Smart cards commonly have a memory chip in them, which can be accessed through contact pads on a face of the card. A smart card reader commonly includes a circuit board, a support plate mounted on the circuit board, and contacts mounted on the support plate and engaging electrically conductive traces on the circuit board. The contacts have blades that project above the plate to engage the contact pads of the smart card, and have connection ends that are soldered to the traces on the circuit board.
There is a need for connectors of a small thickness, as measured between the upper face of the circuit board and the lower face of the card. A requirement for small thickness results from new applications that make use of smart cards, such as small wireless telephones, etc., which may require the entire device to fit into a shirt pocket. The minimum thickness of prior connectors, between the upper face of the circuit board and the lower face of the smart card, was greater than 1 mm. A connector of smaller thickness would be of value. Some common requirements for such connectors is that their contacts press with a force of about 0.4N (newtons) per contact against the card pads, that they have a contact travel of about 0.6 mm, that they preferably be capable of surface-mount connection to the circuit board, and that they can withstand temperatures of about 240.degree. C. to withstand reflow soldering processes.